Learning to Listen to Your Soul

/0 Comments/in /by

When you spend time in nature, it can calm the nervous system and allow you to hear the deeper intelligence in you. This is also the ultimate intention, when I teach these practices, to facilitate others to find this place inside themselves.  Freestyle (non- choreographed) dance such as 5Rhythms or Movement Medicine can also have a similar effect.

Over time you may of course notice other activities that enable you to hear this deep and precious part of yourself.

WAYS TO NOTICE THAT YOUR SOUL IS MORE EMBODIED

Feeling present and confident

The expression of the soul tends to be spontaneous and fluidly animated as you do not have to ‘think’ about what to do; you are just expressing a deep level of authentic self.

Good posture

Since the soul exudes through the heart, you’ll often find that your chest opens and spine extends when your soul is embodied.

Less internal chatter

As previously explained, when the soul is embodied in the heart then other organs feel soothed and create much less internal chatter (which is related to their energetic state).

Repetitive patterns (comfort zone) and addictive patterns tend to fall away
When you are connected to your soul, you become more spontaneous so repetitive patterns – that are to your detriment – tend to fall away. And when you are doing what you love it provides a subtle sense of nourishment and energetically raises your vibration and soothes the internal agitation which comes from organs when they are stressed. This allays the addictive tendencies we have when the organs are distressed.

SOUL EXERCISES

  1. What activities or situations do you do where you feel able to access a deep part of yourself and really ‘hear yourself think’ e.g. long walks, meditations, etc?
  2. What activities or situations do you do in your life that make you feel your soul is embodied?

These points might help:
There are often themes which emerge as to when our soul feels switched on – I call it ‘looking for the clues’. You can make a list of types of situations when you feel soul embodied, and look for common themes – perhaps there’s an activity in common?

My example: My soul feels switched on when I’m doing virtually anything to do with holistic health – treating, teaching, etc.

Make some observations of your posture in particular situations. Look for the connection to your gut instinct as well via the heart – when you feel comfortable in your belly you are often ‘embodied’. When your gut/abdomen freezes your heart is also often closed.

3. Reflect on times when you have been stuck in a rut, heavily in patterns of thought and habitual actions, and then done something you have enjoyed. Reflect on how it changed your mindset and feelings and perhaps even pulled you out of those habitual patterns for a while. Make a note of three occasions and also how long that uplifting effect lasted for.

SUMMARY

How have these soul exercises helped you today?  In what ways do you feel more connected to your soul?  Share them with me.

If you need further support on your holistic journey, then grab a copy of my book ‘Understanding Human Nature – A User’s Guide to Life’ and you can also visit us at the Moinhos Velhos Juice Retreat in Portugal.

The Three Things that Convinced me we are all Connected

/0 Comments/in , /by

How do you see the world? Do you see it as full of separate objects, with our boundaries created by our physical structure? Or do you see everything in the world as connected in some way?

As you go about your day are you in a bubble made for one or does it feel more like existing in web of life? Are we connected to those around us? And in what way?

These are questions that really matter for how we live our lives.

 

How I used to see it

 

I used to see the world and everything in it as entirely separate. I suspect this way of seeing the world as full of separate beings and entities is relatively prevalent in the Western culture.

The idea that there could be some kind of interconnecting force, or greater intelligence dictating or choreographing the movement of people, plants, animals and natural life generally, well in the past, that wouldn’t even have crossed my conscious mind.

 

But then again…?

 

However, over time, I came to see that there were some glaring exceptions where a sense of non-physical interconnection between people or objects was particularly apparent. This gave me the awareness that there was some influence that people or objects could have on each other without physical touch.

Here are the three things that got me really thinking about our connection to the universe and everything in it.

Can you feel it? It’s all in the atmosphere

 

Firstly, it is never lost on me how at a football match, or motorbike speedway meeting, with thousands of other people, there is an acknowledgement that those people in attendance can create an ‘atmosphere’. It’s something which hangs in the air, radiating from these people, something which is created beyond their physical interaction, but yet which collectively influences everybody present.

Sure, some of these people might be physically touching or brushing against each other occasionally, particularly when you used to be able to stand at football grounds, but even so there was an acknowledgement that something else, more subtle, but still powerful, can be created by the presence of these people. A subtle radiance that could alter the way people think and feel.

This was one of the first reflections that got me thinking that we are connected on a far deeper level than just our physical bodies and beings.

How they make you feel

 

Secondly, I became more conscious of how the presence of just one other person near me could affect how I felt. Just one other person, standing in front of me, without touch, could make me feel vastly different, evoke vastly different emotions in me, depending on who they were.

Standing next to someone at a bus stop could make me open into conversation or contract and shy away – by sheer instinct. I realised that I was picking up on a connection with that person without even saying a word, without a single touch.

I realised that I really was connected to those around me, whether I liked it or not.

 

A Global Connection

 

Thirdly, I started to become aware of this sense of interconnection and atmosphere on a more global level too.

I’ll never forget the second ‘Live Aid’ or Live 8 event held in 2005. From the time I woke up that morning, I could tangibly feel the whole ‘atmosphere’ of my street and town was different and I felt the same as I visited the neighbouring city too!

The positive activities and intentions of so many people seemingly influenced more than the immediate space around them, with the impact on a national and perhaps global level that day.

 

Of course, we have even more subtle, almost quaint examples of our interconnection with others, like when we are thinking of someone and they ‘coincidentally’ just happen to call us on the phone at that same moment.

Another common occurrence I notice related to my work is that if I’ve been working abroad for a while and schedule a trip back to England – or start the journey back – then I’ll get an influx of emails regarding receiving acupuncture with me or enquiring about me teaching a workshop.

 

Like a great number of other subtle ‘unseen’ life dynamics, it’s often just generally a bit too confronting and difficult for the mind to try to define or give credibility to these ‘unseen’ dynamics.

And who was I meant to ask about it anyway? Back when I was growing up there was no internet and such existential and ethereal subjects weren’t exactly the topics of choice with the people around me!

However, nonetheless, these things I was becoming aware of were beginning to inform and develop my understanding of interconnection. And this prompted me to try and define some of the mechanics and patterns involved.

I’ll be posting more about interconnection – and what it means in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, if you’d like to know more then you can get the full low down in my book Understanding Human Nature which is available now.